Newsletter just before spring break...

Orchestra News - March 21, 2008

1) Advanced Symphony rehearsal extended on Tuesday April 1
2) Lots of visitors in Advanced Orchestra this week
3) Proposed sectional schedule for when school resumes
4) Advanced Symphony and Advanced Orchestra day trip April 3 -students will
miss periods 3, 5 & 7

1) Advanced Symphony rehearsal will run an extra 30 minutes on Tuesday April 1 in preparation for our performance April 3 - we'll go from 4:30 - 7pm.

PLEASE GET EXCUSES FROM ALL SPORTS, WORK, and OTHER SITUATIONS - we need
full participation. Any student not present for all (or at least most, with valid excuse) of the Tuesday April 1 rehearsal may not be allowed to perform on April 3.

2) Advanced Orchestra was visited this week by some wonderful artists:

Big thanks to Yvonne Hsueh (violin professor at WOU), Karen Vincent (violist of the Salem Chamber Orchestra, Portland Baroque and others), Noah Seitz (local performing cellist), and Mark Perlman (bassist with the Salem Chamber Orchestra and others) for coaching our sectionals on Tuesday March 18!

Thank you to Karl Raschkes, music supervisor (and violinist!) of our district, for sharing his coaching and technique tips on Wednesday March 19.

Huge thank you to the graduate string quartet at the University of Oregon - Violinists Joseph Tang and Rebecca Hunter, violist Clark Spencer, cellist Jeremy Heaven - for performing for us and playing in with us for a rehearsal!!!

We'll post pictures on the blog (www.titanorchestras.blogspot.com)

3) Here is the sectional plan for the week we resume classes:

Monday, March 31 - 8th period, Corelli soloists
Tuesday, April 1 - 4pm SYMPHONY 2nd VIOLINS!!! Symphony rehearsal 4:30 - 7pm MANDATORY DRESS REHEARSAL
Friday, April 4 - regular symphony rehearsal

4) Advanced Orchestra and Symphony (periods 1,2 and 7) will be going to Monmouth to play at a district competition. Busses leave at 9:30 am - students will miss periods 3, 5, and 7. We play at 11 am (Adv. Orch) and 1 pm (Adv. Sym). Busses will leave Monmouth at 1:45 - we will return to West by 2:15. Wish us luck - we hope to qualify for State!!

Have a great break!!! Don't forget to practice, a little bit anyway!!
~Ms. Silberman

Newsletter 3/14/08

1) Last night's concert at West - congrats to Periods 5 & 6
2) Sectionals next week
3) Periods 1 & 2 - composer poster assignment postponed
4) salkeiz e-mail down this weekend
5) How to receive updates on student progress
6) Masterclass this weekend (cellists!)7) Salem Chamber Orchestra concert this weekend (violists!)

1) Thanks to all Period 5 & 6 students for your performance which represented West so well at the combined elementary/middle school/high school concert. It was a great opportunity for everyone to see the strength of West's programs, and for the younger students to look forward to their high school years.

2) Next week's sectional: CHANGES FROM "BLUE SHEET SCHEDULE" IN BLUE
Monday, March 17th, 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. - not mandatory - any violinists invited - vibrato, shifting, and fiddle music workshopTuesday, March 18th, 4:00 - 4:30 p.m. - Advanced Symphony Bass sectional
Tuesday, March 18th, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. - Advanced Symphony rehearsal
Tuesday, March 18th, 6:30 - 7:15 p.m. - Advanced Symphony Violin 1 & 2 "Lohengrin" sectional
Wednesday , March 19th, 7:15 - 7:30 a.m. - Orchestra Leadership meeting
Thursday, March 20th, after school - Ms. Silberman available for any group or individual help needed/wanted
Friday, March 21st, 2:40 - 4:10 p.m. Advanced Symphony rehearsal
Friday, March 21st, 4:15 - 5:00 p.m. Adv. Symph. Violin 1 & 2 sectional moved to 18th due to conflicts

3) Advanced Orchestra (Periods 1 and 2) has had their composer poster assignment postponed until after the 'competition' season.

4) Ms. Silberman's primary (salkeiz) email down this weekendAll teachers in the district will not have access to their school email address this weekend, so if anyone needs/wants to contact Ms. Silberman, please use her alternate address: daryl@daryls.com

5) Parents/guardians interested in updates?Ms. Silberman has been contacted by a few parents wishing for updates on their student's progress in their Titan Orchestra. If you wish to receive an update either once or at a regular interval, please contact Ms. Silberman (daryl@daryls.com - this weekend's email, or email silberman_daryl@salkeiz.k12.or.us and she'll receive the e-mail Monday).

6) Internationally renowned cellist Nathaniel Rosen will appear with Oregon Mozart Players as
solist in the Haydn Cello Concerto on Saturday, March 15 at 8PM and Sunday, March 16 at 2:30PM, both performances in Soreng Theater at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in Eugene. The program for March 15 and 16 also includes “Vestiges of a Distant Time,” a recent work by University of Oregon composer David Crumb, and Robert Levin’s reconstruction of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for wind soloists, K. 297b. Tickets for both the OMP concerts and the recital are available in advance at the Hult Center box office. For more information visit the website: www.oregonmozartplayers.org

7) The Salem Chamber Orchestra has concerts this weekend featuring wind players in a Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for winds and with an embellished viola section for Gabriel Faure's beautiful Requiem. The Willamette Master Chorale joins the orchestra for the Faure. The piece features all violas, cellos and bass, with only one solo violin. Concerts are at Willamette University's Hudson Hall, Saturday evening 7:30pm and Sunday 3pm.

For more info: http://www.salemchamberorchestra.org/

~Ms. S

Newsletter March 6

Orchestra News - March 6, 2008

1) Concert next week for some!
2) Sectionals next week
3) Symphony Intensive TOMORROW (Friday)
4) Salem Pops Orchestra concert
5) Summer music camp scholarship reminder
6) Congratulations to Taylor, Bronte and Gwen

1) There is a concert Thursday March 13 for Orchestra (Period 6) and String Ensemble (Period 5) members - we will be closing up the Walker middle school concert. Additionally, all the area's 5th grade students will be playing on the concert as well. CALL TIME IS 6:15pm DRESSED AND READY TO GO. We'll briefly tune and maybe run through our piece... then, it's concert time. I will be asking many of the members of our group to help tune and watch over the younger kids - we will have over 200 string students all together! Everyone else is welcome to attend - come show your support for the West Area String program.

2) Sectionals next week:Tuesdays 4pm 2nd violins in Advanced SymphonyMs. Silberman will have time next week for anyone who needs extra help with their part (whether for the March 13 concert or for the April 3 orchestra and symphony competition/performance. Please contact Ms. Silberman to schedule a 30 minute time slot (silberman_daryl@salkeiz.k12.or.us)

3) Friday from noon - 4pm - Symphony Intensive. Anita Hughes, Danny Seidenberg, and Noah Seitz will all be coaching our fantastic symphony string section tomorrow at our symphony intensive. Thanks to the general music booster fund for providing pizza for the students!

4) Salem Pops Orchestra has a concert this weekend on Saturday 7:30pm at the Elsinore Theatre. Remember that each student needs to do 2 reviews per semester.

5) The Salem Pops Orchestra is offering a ½ tuition (up to $500) scholarship to students who will be attending a music camp this summer. For more information:

http://www.salempopsorchestra.org/Pops%20Music%20Camp%20Scholarship.pdf

6) Congrats to Taylor Baldwin, Bronte Loewen-Thomas and Gwen Gates on their performances at the district competition solo last week. Gwen will perform again at the State level on April 26th.

Any advocacy-minded parents out there?

This month is "Music in Our Schools" month according to the MENC - Music Educators National Conference. The following website has full information about PSA's (Public Service Announcements) that have been made for radio stations. Any parents interested in contacting a radio station to see if they know of these PSA's and the month's focus? If so, please navigate to the following page:

http://www.menc.org/information/advocate/psa.html

Thanks!
~Ms. S

Congrats to Gwen Gates

Congratulations to 11th grade violin student Gwen Gates for being selected to compete at the State Solo competition April 26. Excellent job!
~Ms. S

YMMP comment

I just wanted to share 9th grade viola student's comment to me in an email about YMMP (our Young Musicians Mentoring Program):

> >>> "Amanda McCloud" 2/26/2008 5:43 PM
> >>>
> When i went to my "mentee's" house I had a lot of fun.. He is so cute and he
> cracks me up.. He told his parents in front of me that he had fun and that
> he learned alot.. It wasnt as bad as i thought it would be lol.. but yes.. i
> had a great time

We have about 30 high school mentors working with a 4th - 7th grade music student. Thanks to all who are participating!

~Ms. Silberman

Interested in pi?

Interested in pi?

http://www.avoision.com/experiments/pi10k/pi10k.html

pi10k converts the first 10,000 numbers in pi to musical notes. You determine which notes correspond to each integer.

Newsletter Feb 29

) Friends of Music meeting Monday night 6:30
2) Guest artists later this week
3) Symphony intensive
4) Sectionals next week
5) Solo & Ensemble - March 1 at WOU

1) Every two months the “Friends of Music” (FOM) meet at rotating schools—this time it is WSHS’ turn to host this very important meeting. EVERYONE in the community is invited and they need not be involved with WSHS directly and any citizen can attend, but especially any interested parents. So please tell one and all that have an ongoing interest in maintaining the “arts” in our high schools and the community that they too are welcome to attend.
FOM is an advocacy group comprised of concerned Salem-Keizer citizens, parents, music booster group representatives, and music teachers, and is chaired by Alan Bushong, president of CCTV and longtime music parent. This group co-sponsors All City music group performances, fundraises for musical causes, helps champion music as a core strength in our school system and keeps tabs on all things musical with school board officials and Salem-Keizer administrative personnel.

When: Monday, March 3, 2008
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Where: West Salem High School
Room A101 (WSHS Orchestra room)

Proposed Agenda for Monday, March 3rd, 2008:
Entertainment provided by “West High Corelli Bass Duo”
Introductions by:
WSHS Vice-Principal (Mr. John is scheduled to be out of town)
James Boyd, Director of the Salem Chamber Orchestra
“Small Learning Communities”—to review the data collected at and since the January 7th meeting (at McKay)
Includes plan to cut a sophomore elective class at South Salem HS
“Next Steps” that FOM will take
All-City Honors Band wrap-up
Volunteer thanks, misc topics
May meeting plans

If you have any questions about this event, contact our own Marianne Stipe (mstipe@willamette.edu ), who can field questions about the Friends of Music organization and the event at our school this upcoming Monday, March 3rd.

2) All orchestras are going to be visited by guest artists this week - Period 2 will be conducted by Mark Perlman, bassist of the Salem Chamber Orchestra (and associate professor of philosophy at Western Oregon University) and all other periods will be guest conducted by Danny Seidenberg this week. We're so lucky to have such amazing talent right here in Salem!

3) Reminder that we will be having an Advanced Symphony Orchestra intensive on a non-school day. All students enrolled in symphony orchestra are expected to attend unless excused legitimately. Students who cannot attend will be assigned to play their symphony repertoire for Ms. Silberman the following week. It will be a fantastic day - an opportunity for us to focus on successfully learning this music that we'll be playing in competition only a few weeks later. Each section will be coached by a professional from the Salem Chamber Orchestra.

4) The week of March 3rd:
Tuesday March 2 - symphony rehearsal 4:30 - 6:30
Thursday March 6 - All musicians in Periods 5 and 6 - 2:30 - 4pm
Friday March 7 - Symphony intensive 12pm - 4pm

5) Good luck to Bronte Loewen-Thomas, Taylor Baldwin, and Gwen Gates who are performing a solo for the district's Solo and Ensemble competition this Saturday. We wish you good luck!